Building Community: May You Continue

Written by Pepe Demarest, Pastoral Intern

Building Community: "We value strength in diversity and strive to build a beloved community by actively inviting our neighbors to share in God’s mission."

I am really proud to have been part of the community of Christ the King for the past two years. 
When a church picks Building Community as one of its four “Core Values,” there is a commitment to evangelism that is so much more than just telling the story “of Jesus and his glory.” It is a commitment to spreading the Gospel as Jesus did. By being present with all kinds of people, by hosting and being hosted by people like himself as well as those outside his cultural bubble, Jesus showed the Father’s love by loving the diversity he knew in the Trinity. 

This is our God and the church of God is a reflection of that diversity. This does not mean we impose our values on others, rather we appreciate the way God shows up in difference. Building community is about cultural humility and curiosity. When I think of how the CtK community welcomed me to this place and let me tell my truth, I see how you build this community.

Two years ago, I was submerged into the waters of this congregation. The Monday “Bible Study” welcomed me even though I wasn’t a long-time member or retired; I marveled at the partnerships you had developed with the universal church in the Global Mission Partners; Cristo Rey welcomed me even though my Spanish is deplorable! When you consider the 14 Social Ministry Opportunities listed on our website and see all of the Local Mission Partners, it is clear CtK is already a healthy outward-looking church.

And then the dual pandemics hit. COVID-19 made the world rethink what community means. Families were separated from each other for their own safety, and our worshiping community needed to find creative ways to connect, because we were “Apart for now-Together for good.” The other pandemic affecting our larger community is racism, which until the killing of George Floyd, was not something that most whites thought much about. But you, Christ the King, were willing to examine how privilege hurts others. You engaged in book groups on racism and commissioned a working group to become more of an anti-racist congregation. It is hard not to be grateful for how you opened the building to CPY, to neighbors who were most affected by both of these pandemics.

As I conclude my internship, my pride for this community will go with me.  Moving to in-person worship may feel awkward. In this transition, you may yearn to go back to a normal that never was, but I pray that you remember how much God has blessed you and that you continue to do the great work you have begun. 

This poem by Maya Angelou was shared at the virtual prayer tent last week and I share it with you as a blessing.

Continue
By Maya Angelou

Into a world which needed you
My wish for you
Is that you continue

    Continue

To be who and how you are
To astonish a mean world
With your acts of kindness

    Continue

To allow humor to lighten the burden
of your tender heart

    Continue

In a society dark with cruelty
To let the people hear the grandeur
Of God in the peals of your laughter

    Continue

To let your eloquence
Elevate the people to heights
They had only imagined

    Continue

To remind the people that
Each is as good as the other
And that no one is beneath
Nor above you

    Continue

To remember your own young years
And look with favor upon the lost
And the least and the lonely

    Continue

To put the mantel of your protection
Around the bodies of
The young and defenseless

    Continue

To take the hand of the despised
And diseased and walk proudly with them
In the high street
Some might see you and
Be encouraged to do likewise

    Continue

To plant a public kiss of concern
On the cheek of the sick
And the aged and infirm
And count that as a
Natural action to be expected

    Continue

To let gratitude be the pillow
Upon which you kneel to
Say your nightly prayer
And let faith be the bridge
You build to overcome evil
And welcome good

    Continue

To ignore no vision
Which comes to enlarge your range
And increase your spirit

    Continue

To dare to love deeply
And risk everything
For the good thing

    Continue

To float
Happily in the sea of infinite substance
Which set aside riches for you
Before you had a name

    Continue
​
And by doing so
You and your work
Will be able to continue
Eternally